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Many meditation apps have busy, cartoonish designs, hectic interfaces, too many features, and no clear hierarchy or path, which detracts from the meditative experience. Users desire a cleaner, more focused design.
Could Meditation Apps Be More Impactful if Designed Like Sacred Spaces? 😇 I recently supported the development of a new meditation app. Naturally, I did a behavioural audit of the other zillion meditation apps on the market. What really stood out was ... how busy most of them are! 🤦♀️ Bright cartoonish designs. 🤦♀️ Hectic interfaces. 🤦♀️ Too many features. 🤦♀️ No clear hierarchy or path. (Exception goes to Waking Up for getting this so right—its clean, focused design is laser-focused on its core goal: get people meditating.) But it did make me wonder... ⁉️ Why Aren’t Meditation Apps Designed Like Sacred Spaces ⁉️ Temples. Cathedrals. Zen gardens. These physical spaces have been intentionally designed to evoke awe, peace, and presence. Many are built upon Sacred Geometric principles —patterns that reflect the elegant order and efficient growth found in nature. -> The Golden Ratio — found in nautilus shells, waves, fingerprints, and the Taj Mahal -> The Fibonacci sequence — reflected in sunflower seeds, pinecones, even the branching of lungs and trees These patterns are efficient, harmonious, and deeply familiar to our biology. Studies even show we’re more drawn to faces and designs aligned with these proportions. ✡️ Sacred Geometry = Design for the Nervous System? Some (albeit a bit sketch) research in neuroarchitecture shows that sacred spaces can induce measurable shifts in the nervous system: - Increased gamma wave activity - Elevated heart rate and skin conductance - Altered time perception Obviously there’s a subject-object loop—we give meaning to these places. But secular architecture (like Tadao Ando’s minimalist, Zen-inspired buildings) can have similar effects. You know the feeling of walking into a spacious, light-filled, minimal room. Something in the body exhale-relaxes. 🕊️ So Why Isn’t App Design Tapping into This? 🛐 Design schools often teach the Golden Ratio. Web UX knows about the Fibonacci Spiral. So why are meditation apps ignoring these ancient-yet-modern principles? Patricia Fierro-Newton, a neuroarchitecture writer, suggests principles for physical design that feel deeply applicable to digital UX: -> Incorporate vastness & intricate detail to trigger awe -> Use harmonious proportions to convey order -> Carefully modulate sensory stimuli to support focus -> Design progressive layers of space to guide attention inward -> Integrate natural or biophilic elements to support wellbeing 📲 What Would This Look Like in App Design? Not that dissimilar to simple good design! 1. Use the Golden Ratio to guide layout, imagery, and spacing 2. Present only what matters—removing features that don’t serve the core mission 3. Stick to a neutral or nature-inspired palette, letting the gaze soften 4. Use space generously What do you think? have you applied the Golden Ratio to your app design? (Carl Peterken would love your thoughts!) #appdesign #UX #behaviouralscience #sacredgeometry